Lakers blow late lead before beating Timberwolves in overtime, 101-99

Timberwolves forward Andrew Wiggins tries to back down Lakers guard Wayne Ellington in the first half of a game Dec. 14.

Timberwolves forward Andrew Wiggins tries to back down Lakers guard Wayne Ellington in the first half of a game Dec. 14. (Ann Heisenfelt / Associated Press)

Eric Pincus

Lakers vs. Timberwolves: quarter-by-quarter updates

Jordan Clarkson sank a pair of free throws with 0.3 seconds left in overtime to give the Lakers a 101-99 victory over the Timberwolves on Wednesday night in Minnesota.

Chase Budinger made a three-pointer with 6.6 seconds left in the fourth quarter to force the extra session, with Minnesota overcoming a late five-point deficit.

Timberwolves center Gorgui Dieng made two huge plays, making a jump shot with 18.7 seconds left in overtime followed by a block on Wayne Ellington's layup in the final seconds, but Clarkson grabbed the offensive rebound and was fouled by Zach LaVine to set up the winning free throws.

Clarkson finished with 20 points, making all eight of his free throws. The rookie dished five assists but struggled with six turnovers.

Minnesota rookie forward Andrew Wiggins was the game's leading scorer with 27. Budinger added 22 off the bench, while LaVine had 18 points on five-of-18 shooting.

The Lakers got a strong performance from Jeremy Lin, but after scoring 19 points in 29 minutes, the guard sat through crunch time as the team looked at younger players like Jabari Brown and Clarkson.

Boozer then said he was told by Coach Byron Scott he'd be sitting out "four or five games" so the Lakers could evaluate their young big men.

Tanks a lot?

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Ed Davis finished with 14 points and nine rebounds. Ryan Kelly, who missed an open three-point attempt that could have won the game in the fourth quarter, finished with 11 points on one-for-eight shooting from behind the arc. Ellington's seven points came on three-of-19 shooting.

Tarik Black, who made all three of his long-range shots, also scored in double figures with 11 for the Lakers, who shot 42.4% from the field and 94.4% from the line (17 of 18).

The Timberwolves shot 42.3% and 90.0% (27 of 30), respectively.

The overtime win for the Lakers hurts their chances to climb higher than the fourth position in the NBA draft lottery. A loss might have given the team the opportunity to catch both the Philadelphia 76ers and Minnesota.

"The one thing I want to say today is a huge heartfelt thank you to the Buss family, to the entire Lakers organization," said Nash, who has missed most...

Paul Pressey coached the Lakers to the win with Byron Scott on leave after the passing of his mother. Both teams sat a number of players including Kobe Bryant, Ricky Rubio, Carlos Boozer, Nikola Pekovic, Jordan Hill, Kevin Garnett, Nick Young, Kevin Martin, Julius Randle and Shabazz Muhammad.

With the win, the Lakers improve to 19-51. They'll travel to Toronto to play the Raptors (42-30) on Friday. The Timberwolves (16-55) visit the Houston Rockets (48-23), also on Friday.

Lakers 90, Minnesota Timberwolves 90 (end of fourth quarter)

The Lakes saw their fourth-quarter lead fizzle until the Timberwolves tied the score with 2:24 left.

The Missouri backcourt pair of Jabari Brown and Jordan Clarkson scored five points in a row, seemingly putting the Lakers ahead for good but Zach LaVine hit a pair of free throws and Chase Budinger made a three-pointer with 6.6 on the clock.

Ryan Kelly missed a wide open look from behind the arc that would have given the Lakers the win -- instead overtime.

Jeremy Lin, who didn't play down the stretch, leads the Lakers with 19 points.

Andrew Wiggins and Budinger both have 22 for the Wolves.

Lakers 73, Timberwolves 66 (end of third quarter)

The Lakers pushed their advantage to seven points entering the fourth quarter, with Jeremy Lin's 19 points and five assists leading the way.

Ed Davis is the Lakers' only other double-digit scorer with 10 off the bench to go along with a team-high six rebounds.

The Lakers held onto most of their lead in the second quarter,heading into halftime up by six points on the Timberwolves.

Every Laker to play has scored at least three points, with Ed Davis leading the way with eight off the bench. The Lakers are shooting 48.8% from the field but only 21.4% (3 of 14) from three-point range.

The Timberwolves are shooting 44.4% and 37.5% (3 of 8), respectively. Andrew Wiggins leads all scorers with 10 points while Zach LaVine has nine.

Ryan Kelly, starting his second game at power forward for the Lakers, has seven points. Carlos Boozer and Jordan Hill are sitting out this game, as expected, so the Lakers can develop some of the team's younger players.